Wars of the Roses, Rose Theatre, Kingston 2015

Ian Shuttleworth in The Financial Times gave the production 4 stars and observed that:

The trilogy begins with a strongly acted focus. Alex Waldmann’s skills have grown over the years and are now meshed with his still-boyish features to create a convincingly innocent, youthful Henry VI; he grows in wisdom, but scarcely in understanding regarding the ruthlessness demanded by kingship.

London Theatre 1 gave the production five stars. In the review there was lots of praise for Alex’s character development:

The greatest character development of all is seen in Henry VI (a hugely likeable Alex Waldmann) – the audience sees him grow into his role as ruler of the realm. There is much sympathy for Henry as he deals with affairs of state. Even as an unsure and frightened boy with a sceptre in hand, Waldmann held the audience’s attention, and he was conspicuous by his absence whenever off-stage.

Paul Taylor in The Independent gave the productions 4 stars overall. He said:

Alex Waldmann, an actor I whom admire more and more, brings the atmosphere and body-language of an innocently pious Fotherington-Thomas (“Hello clouds! Hello Archbishop!) to the extended, demanding role of Henry VI, utterly honourable and utterly cocking things up – not least in his rash decision to marry Margaret

Natasha Tripney noted, “Only Alex Waldmann’s meek Henry VI, such a genial barefoot kingling in the beginning, manages to impart something natural into his role.” Read the full review here.

Henry Hitching in The Evening Standard said:

The undoubted star is Alex Waldmann as Henry VI. At first he seems absurdly childlike, fidgety and uncertain. As he develops into a passive and politically limp monarch, Waldmann delicately conveys his mix of fecklessness and saintly idealism, contrasting strikingly with the steely, dominant Joely Richardson as his queen, Margaret of Anjou.

Alex Ramon writing in the Reviews Hub thought Alex was sensational. He wrote:

Alex Waldmann is a sensational King Henry, growing and deepening from innocent youth to a kind of piousness that seems indistinguishable from deep inner strength. Buffeted so much by fortune, his Henry finally seems to be able to accept both victory and defeat with equal equanimity, even, in a startling final moment of forgiveness, tenderly kissing his murderer.

The Times said, “Alex Waldmann is the glorious exception, the human heart of it all as a diffident Henry VI overpowered by his wife Margaret […]” Read the Review here.

Holly O’Mahony for A Younger Theatre wrote, “It’s also hard not to warm towards Alex Waldmann’s Henry in Edward IV, who we believe when he says he wears his crown “in his heart”, and sympathise with as he sits barefoot on a molehill declaring “never subject longed to be a king as I do long to be a subject”.”

“The audience meets Henry VI (brilliantly developed with much-needed humour by Alex Waldmann) as a blushing, gangly and pre-pubescent boy in 1429, at the ceremony to crown him King of England. From there, we watch him develop into a pious and peace-loving man, unsuited to and disinterested in the role of king.”

“Alex Waldmanns’ portrayal of Henry VI is a delightful piece of acting, quite the equal of David Warner’s famous original. He has to move from a shy, wide-eyed child overawed by his surroundings to a geeky, awkward self-absorbed teenager that culminates in the holy severity and vapid wishful thinking of adulthood. He does so with a charm and artless grace that is winning and also dismaying. We see him cross-legged and barefoot on the throne, playing with his sceptre and with the roses that are the symbols of division, and vainly trying to reconcile the embittered nobles like an idealistic social worker, hopelessly out of his depth.”